Date of Award

Spring 2026

Language

English

Embargo Period

5-5-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Educational Policy and Leadership

Program

Educational Policy and Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Kristen Wilcox

Committee Members

Dr. Janet Warden, Dr. Deborah Schussler

Keywords

Keywords: ADHD, accommodations, middle school, organizational structures, implementation, special education

Subject Categories

Educational Leadership

Abstract

This mixed-method study examined organizational structures for ADHD accommodation implementation in New York State middle schools. While extensive research documents the effectiveness of specific ADHD accommodations, limited scholarly attention has focused on how educators organize themselves to deliver these supports consistently across multiple classroom settings. This study addressed that gap by investigating how educational leaders, teachers, and support staff structure systems for accommodation implementation. Grounded in Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and Organizational Behavior Theory (Robbins & Judge, 2017), the study examined implementation across three organizational levels: building leaders, coordinators, and classroom teachers and support staff.

Data collection included a practitioner survey (n = 15) and follow-up interviews with six participants representing all three organizational levels: two building leaders (building principal and assistant principal), two coordinators (school psychologist/CSE chairperson and teacher leader), and two classroom teachers (related service provider and general education teacher).

The strongest pattern that emerged in this study was a system-wide perception gap between organizational levels regarding role clarity, administrative support, and system functionality. While 62% of administrators reported that roles are "very clearly defined," 0% of coordinators and classroom practitioners selected this option. This perception gap, consistent with Organizational Behavior Theory's prediction that hierarchical position shapes organizational perception, represents the study's primary contribution to the literature and provides the interpretive lens through which other findings can best be understood. Survey data indicated that 73% of respondents reported inconsistent accommodation implementation across classrooms, and 67% receive ADHD-related professional development once per year or less. Notably, practitioners at all organizational levels converged on the finding that systematic monitoring of accommodation implementation is absent; school practitioners rely on trust, hope, and complaint-driven feedback rather than proactive verification, indicating that even when effective accommodations are known, no mechanism exists to confirm they are being delivered.

Analysis revealed five emergent themes representing previously undocumented barriers to consistent accommodation implementation: reliance on individual teacher initiative, structural separation of 504 and IEP systems, middle school structural complexity, substitute teacher vulnerability, and the exclusion of special area teachers from communication structures.

Educators possess knowledge of effective accommodations; the gap lies in organizing to deliver them consistently. When administrators believe systems are functional while practitioners experience dysfunction, no feedback mechanism exists to drive improvement. Implications for practice include structured feedback mechanisms to close perception gaps, systematic monitoring protocols, and communication structures that include peripheral staff. Policy implications address resource allocation formulas that account for the coordination burden carried by school-based coordinators, and state guidance on organizational implementation systems.

Keywords: ADHD, accommodations, middle school, organizational structures, implementation, special education

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

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